Sunday, September 22, 2013

SHOWING OFF: Part Three

Throughout the weekend,
each person in the group had their moment in
the limelight and Z's full attention as observer, interpreter
and motivator of each scenario. Nobody in the group seemed
more than averagely troubled, none seriously neurotic
and certainly not mentally ill but, by God, all those
unresolved childhoods! So many early traumas hidden behind
ordinary people's faces and perhaps never revealed
until now. The simple technique of choosing two strangers
who vaguely ressembled one's parents worked like magic.
Having a supportive and absorbed audience for your mini-drama
plus the charismatic presence
of Z orchestrating it created an enveloping,
secure ambiance where it was safe to unlock secrets and
to show off whatever needed showing off.

I became totally mesmerised
by each person's story,
and by Z's stunning insights. I was
picked to be 'mother' a few times, playing the role as
my 'children' had experienced it. But you were supposed
to decide when to 'work' (take centre stage)
and I had almost forgotten that I had come for my own
sake. It was only as the last session was winding up
and the whole group was about to go out to dinner that
I felt an irresistible urge to be heard. I got up and
went to sit in front of Z and said: I want to work.

He looked at his watch.

Bingo!

Precisely the gesture
my father often made when I was talking with him.

Z said: Do you always wait
until the last minute to get attention? I nodded.

He said: Who's
your father?

I said: You.

Z stood up, arms hanging
loosely at his sides, head down.

He said: What do you
want to do?

Without a moment's hesitation,
I came to stand with my back to him, grabbed his
arms and put them over my shoulders, bent down, hoisted
him off the ground and walked around the room carrying
him on my back.

Everyone laughed. I was
(am) a petite 4'11". He was about 5'9" and solidly
built. It was very funny.

Z said seriously: That's
it. You're a carrier. Your parents jumped on your back
when you were born and you've been carrying them ever
since.

(I drew the above cartoon when
I got home so I would remember the scene forever.
I also sent it to Z)